The Great Barrier Between Us
by AsHu7890
Summary: Sasuke the merman fell in love with Naruto the human boy. Just to be with him, Sasuke broke his father's rule and bargain with the sea serpent.. Narusasu pairing. Merman!Sasuke. Human!Naruto. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER : I do not own Naruto.**

 **WARNING : THIS IS BOY x BOY LOVE. T rated.**

 **This is a Little Mermaid AU/Crossover with Human!Naruto and Merman!Sasuke. I wasn't going to upload this until I get the next part done, but with what's been going on lately, I guess I'll post this as a distraction for you guys. I had this chapter ready for a a while now.**

 **My message for the Americans who were not feeling okay:** **DON'T GIVE UP. It is not the end. All of us, from all over the world, give you love and support for you to carry on! 3 I am Indonesian myself, I live way far away from you guys, but here's just a little gift from me, eh? **

***hugs for all of you who needs it***

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **The Great Barrier Between Us**

 **Part 1**

* * *

It was a cold morning under the sea.

The sun hadn't reach all the way to the chamber of the mermans and mermaids of the sea. It was shivering, but the dark haired merman woke up slowly, feeling a poke on his back.

"Go away," he groaned in a husky voice.

"Sasukeeh.. Wake up.."

"Mm.. No.. Yeah.. Feet.." He mumbled as he wasn't all awake yet.

The flounder, well his name was Flounder anyway, whimpered through his fish lips.

"Seriously, Sasuke. You're dreaming about feet? You have to let go of this human thing."

The pale merman just rolled over his bed.

"Hmph.."

Flounder swam over to the other of the bed to wake up the snoring prince. The fish flipped its fin to his face.

"Oi. Cut it." The merman opened his eyes and glared at his fish friend in protest.

"Father wants you up early."

"Why?" Sasuke finally got out of his bed, well technically he was hovering over it. He swam to his mirror to check his appearance. He only brushed his dark hair back, and parted the bangs side to side. His complexion was pale, as the merman rarely get touched by the sunlight.

Sasuke was his name. He was the second son of the King, Fugaku. That, made him a prince. Well, he wasn't that important anyway, even if he had that title. The throne would be given to his brother, Itachi.

Merpeople were hiding from the rest of the world for centuries. Actually, they were scattered all across the ocean, and there were several rulers in different part of the sea. In this very part of the ocean, his father was the King. They used to play together with the humans, until one day. Those humans started to curse them, killed them, and banished them to the corners of the ocean.

They called them the creatures of darkness. It hurt them, of course. Running away from their wrath, they built their castles deeper than it used to be.

His father strictly prohibited every merpeople from approaching the surface. It had been the rule from the elders for centuries now. And Sasuke didn't like it.

If only, he wished he was a human.

Sasuke would visit the suface every now and then, and swam very close to the humans. He would even pick up stuff that was dropped by them. This had been his secret, he only shared it with his friend, Flounder.

It happened one day, ten years ago.

* * *

 _Flashback.._

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The eight years old merman was swimming quickly, moving his dark purple scaly tail in process. He giggled as he swam away from his thirteen years old brother. Sasuke was dashing through the corals.

"Sasuke! Slow down!"

"Catch me if you can, nii-san!"

But his genius brother caught him and grabbed him by his arms. Itachi curled his own blood red scaly tail into Sasuke's to kept him from running away.

"Gottcha." His long-haired brother smiled to Sasuke.

"Again! Nii-san, again!" Sasuke was feeling really excited.

"Sorry, Sasuke.. I can't. Father wants me to go now." Itachi closed his eyes for a brief second and held Sasuke's shoulders, showing his apology.

Sasuke pouted. "Now?"

Itachi poked Sasuke's forehead with his two fingers. "Sorry, Sasuke. Next time, okay?"

While wiping his forehead, young Sasuke just grumbled to his older brother. "Okay.."

Shisui, his cousin, showed up along with his uncle, Obito. Obito tackled him and ruffled his hair.

"Sasuu! Wanna play!?" Obito grinned as he wiggled his blue tail playfully. "Y'know, since your brother needs to train with Shisui?"

Sasuke was still pouting, but inside he was quite happy. Yay! He smiled at Obito. "Yeah!" His voice was cute and light.

"Sorry that I have to borrow your brother, Sasuke." winked Shisui. His older cousin was two years older than Itachi, his tail colour was lime green.

"Bye, Sasuke!" Itachi and Shisui swam away from the corals.

"Okay! Sasu, what do you wanna play?" asked his childish uncle.

Before Sasuke could answer him, other merpeople were approaching them. They were at Sasuke's age. Actually, Sasuke didn't really like them, but he was kinda forced to interact with kids his age. He prefered to play with Itachi instead.

He was about to run away, when he noticed his friend among the merpeople.

"Yo! Sasuke!"

It was Suigetsu. He was actually part shark. Odd, but Sasuke liked his straightforwardness. That's why he decided to befriend him. Suigetsu flashed his fangs. "Let's play hide and seek!"

"Okay!" Sasuke smiled to Suigetsu. "Can my uncle join too?"

"Sure!" The kids loved Obito. "Uncle Obiiii!" They rushed to hug the black-haired merman.

"Whoa whoa! One at a time, kids!" Obito laughed as the children attacked him.

"Okay. Let's play hide and seek. I'll count, and you kids hide! How bout that?" asked Obito while he put his index finger in front of his face.

"Yeaaah!" The kids, including Sasuke, cheered.

Obito swam into a nearby coral. He covered his eyes with his arms.

"I'll count to..20? Okay! One.. Two.."

The kids scattered around the area and went into hiding. A young mermaid tried to cover her body with sand in order to camuflage. Sasuke was thinking. Where should he hide?

He looked at the surface that was probably 50 meters above him.

There.

He swam up towards the shallower waters to hide from his uncle. The corals here were much more colorful, in contrast to the depths of where he usually stayed. He found a huge purple coral, and decided to hide behind it. He snickered in glee. Uncle Obito would never find him.

A sudden noise chilled Sasuke's spine. It sounded like..a boy's voice? He stared at the surface, that seemed to be where the source of voice were.

Wait a second.

How can merpeople stayed above the water? Curiosity filled him.

He had to check it out.

He carefuly swam towards the sunlight, above the water. Sasuke was nervous. He peaked above the water to glance around. Ah. He was able to breath normally. The outside world was warm. A breeze of wind hit Sasuke's face. It was cool and calming. Wow, the ocean sure was cold. He popped his whole head up to take a good look.

Where he lived, the sea, was just underneath him. His bottom body part, his tail to be precise, was hidden underneath the surface. His upper torso was out in the water. It was his first time out of the cold waters. He swam to a nearby rock, that was surprisingly warm, and hid behind it. Sasuke was observing the creature that made such loud noises.

There were.. Creatures over there, where the water didn't reach them. They looked similar like himself, only their bottom part was different. It was something he never saw before. Instead of tail and fins, it was a pair of flesh stick. Sasuke was in awe. Who were they?

"Ahahaha! That's ugly, Konohamaru! I can build a better sand castle than that!"

It was the same loud, happy voice he heard from underwater. The boy seemed like he was at the same age as Sasuke himself. His complexion was darker than his own, well, Sasuke rarely met the sunlight anyway. The boy's hair was spiky blonde. He was laughing with a smaller brunette boy.

Sasuke was stuck in a daze. The boy was gorgeous. He was wearing something orange in colour, Sasuke didn't know what it was, an outer wear of some sort? Young Sasuke dared himself to push his body up to the rock. His tail was still underwater. He pressed his face to the rock as he watched the blonde boy.

He wanted to play with him, but Sasuke was shy. What if he freaked out? Right now, Sasuke was the weird one. He was the only one with tail!

"Naruto-niisan! Teach me!" the smaller brunette begged the blonde.

Sasuke yanked his head up. His name was Naruto.

Cute.

The raven smiled as he observed the boy from a distance. Should he go there to talk to him?

Ack!

Sasuke was dragged into the water by his tail. That hurt. He was shocked, but he looked even more stunned when he saw an angry Uncle Obito.

"Sasuke!" he growled. "How dare you?!"

Sasuke looked scared. "W-what!?"

Obito burried his eyebrows and dragged him by the arms. "You are so in trouble. I'm bringing you to your father!"

"But, Uncle Obit-" Sasuke was protesting, but he got cut once more by Obito.

"Did you know how dangerous your action was!?"

Sasuke shook his head in fear. Uncle Obito looked scary.

"Tch. As I thought. You're reckless, Sasuke." He grabbed Sasuke's arm again and they swam together to the palace.

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Once they reached his father's throne, Obito explained the situation in a short sentence, whispering to his father.

"WHAT!?"

That voice made Sasuke's body froze entirely. Father was scary when he was angry. Fugaku slammed his trident to the floor of the cavern. The palace shook in a small tremor.

"Sasuke. How. Dare. You." He spoke in a dangerous staccato.

"Father, I-I didn't know! I.." Sasuke was trying to defend himself, but he knew it was no use.

"I taught you to stay away from the shore! I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO UP TO THE SURFACE!" His father was in total anger, slamming his trident over and over again.

It seemed that the whole area was stroked by an earthquake. Sasuke was trying very, very hard to hold his tears. Fugaku instructed him since young not to cry easily. But right now, his father was terrifying. His mother, the Queen, appeared from the entrance of the cavern and swam quickly to her husband. Her royal purple tail was waving in the back of her body.

"Dear, what was-"

Fugaku raised his hand to silence his wife.

"Sasuke went up to the surface." The King managed to spat the sentence out.

"Oh my!" Mikoto, his mother, seemed absolutely stunned. He swam to his son to check his condition. "Are you okay, Sasuke!?"

"Yes, mother." Sasuke managed to respond to his mother in a weak manner. As the Queen hugged him tight, Sasuke felt way better. He wasn't as scared as he was a moment ago.

The palace fell into silence as the King was trying to compose his anger. Obito was beside the King, not making any more movements. A moment later, he spoke up.

"Sasuke, what did you see?"

His mother was holding his hand, and she squeezed it to reassure Sasuke.

"I.. I saw.. Other.. Creatures.." Sasuke tried his very best to explain what he saw. "They look like us.. But.."

"Humans." King Fugaku's tone turned deep and grave.

Sasuke decided to keep on talking. "I want to play with them bu-"

" _Play_? With _them_?" His voice dropped very low. "Sasuke. Go to your room. You're grounded for two months."

"Father!" Sasuke protested.

"You," His father pointed his index finger to Sasuke. "Are a disgrace to this family. You're not like Itachi! It was a very simple order, yet you failed to obey it. Do not go up again forever!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and tightened his fists. Rage was boiling inside him.

"I hate you!" Sasuke spat with venom to his father, and swam away to the halls of the white cavern. He needed to be alone. Sasuke swam to his room, he heard something swiming behind him. Whatever.

A pair of hands stopped Sasuke, right in front of his room. It was his mother's. As Sasuke glanced back, he saw his mother and Uncle Obito. He decided to ignore Obito.

"What?" Sasuke spat again.

"My dear.. Look.. Father was worried about you." Mikoto tried to talk to her dense child with her soft voice. "Sasuke, humans are cruel to us. They have been.. murdering our kind for centuries. That's why father forbid any member of our kingdom to approach the shallows and the surface."

Sasuke was actually stunned, but he tried his best to hide it. He was angry.

Obito spoke up. "Sasu.. I'm sorry.. But I did what needs to be done. Even if some random mermaid went up to the surface, I would surrender them to the King as well." His uncle gulped as he noticed Sasuke wouldn't look at him. "It is your father's rules."

Sasuke remained silent. His mother tried to hug him again, but Sasuke snapped her hands away and swam inside his cavern.

Again, compared with Itachi. Furthermore, he was called a 'disgrace to the family'. He hated his family. He hated himself.

He hated everything.

* * *

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For the last ten years, Sasuke would find every opportunity to sneak up to the surface. Sometimes the shore was empty, but sometimes there were some humans there. Naruto, the blonde human, would come outside at around noon, when the sun was directly above Sasuke's head. That definitely made Naruto's skin tanner than his own. As years goes by, he began to notice differences from the boy. He grew taller, his feet, that was what humans called it, was not as thin as it used to be, muscles filled it now.

Naruto, the human, was handsome.

One day, when Sasuke was 12, the boy was splashing on the beach with his younger brunette friend, Konohamaru. Sasuke would stay behind the usual rock to observe the boy.

Suddenly, the boy stepped into a rock that was near the beach. It was still pretty far away from Sasuke, though.

"Konohamaru! Let's sing the song we learn from the pervy old man!"

"Yeah! Yeah!" the younger boy was hopping in joy.

He raised his right leg up to the higher part of the stone and puffed his chest. Konohamaru, the younger human boy, copied his action.

 _"My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair,_

 _And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year,_

 _Come all you pretty fair maids, whoever you may be_

 _Who love a jolly sailor bold that ploughs the raging sea,_

 _While up aloft, in storm or gale, from me his absence mourn,_

 _And firmly pray, arrive the day, he home will safe return_

 _My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold,_

 _There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold."_

Merpeople loved songs. Sasuke was more and more attracted to the human boy. Even if his voice wasn't exactly the best, it sounded wonderful to the merman's ears. He was gorgeous. Naruto, was his goal now. Sasuke wanted to be with him.

Naruto and Konohamaru laughed after singing the song, but suddenly Naruto slipped on the wet rock and fell on his bum.

"OW!"

As he landed harshly on the wet rock, the blonde boy observed something. Sasuke was confused. What was he looking at?

"Hey! Who's there!?"

Crap. Naruto saw him.

Sasuke plunged his entire body, except for his upper head, to hide from the boy's view.

"What is it, Naruto-niisan?"

"I saw someone there! I'm sure!"

Sasuke didn't want to see them, but he could hear their voices from a far. It seemed that the boys were going here to observe what the older boy saw.

A sudden adult voice startled Sasuke. The man was scolding the two boys.

"What do you thing you're doing!?"

"Owww! Iruka-sensei! My ears hurt!" Apparently, Iruka, pulled their ears.

"Don't go there! This beach here is very steep! Down there, the water gets deep!"

"Really? But Iruka-sensei, I saw someone there!"

"You're imagining things. Naruto, you are a prince. Please act like one!"

Sasuke froze in the water. Prince?

"But I can do what I want!"

"No, Naruto. That means, one day you'll become king. You have to take care of yourself. Who's going to take care of the kingdom later if something happens to you?"

Sasuke couldn't hear the rest of the conversation, as the three seemed to be heading away from the shore.

Prince?

Just like himself?

Sasuke found himself falling for the prince of the humans. He slowly drew away from the shore, and dive back down to the cold ocean where he belongs. Suddenly, he bumped into Flounder.

"Prince Sasuke! Where have you been!?"

"Shhhh!" Sasuke closed Flounder's fish lips to kept it from talking louder. "Flounder, this is our secret, okay?"

Flounder was assigned by King Fugaku to take care of Sasuke when he turned nine years old. But the fish was quite clumsy. The young prince could easily slipped away from him from this past three years.

Well, except for today.

"Mmmphhh." Flounder was muttering something that couldn't be heard, but the fish was bouncing its body up and down. Sasuke guessed it was a yes.

"Okay. If you dare tell father, I'll do something bad to you." Sasuke pulled his palm from the fish.

"...What is it?" The fish was nervous, but Sasuke thought that he already knew the answer.

"I visit the surface once in a while," Sasuke began his confession. Somehow, he trusted the fish. The young prince couldn't trust other merpeople, even his friend, Suigetsu. "I..want to see the humans."

Flounder was about to scream, but the fish covered its mouth with its own fins. "What?" He managed a small whimper. "Father will _kill_ you."

"I know that," Sasuke sighed. "I hate him anyways. Father and his stupid rules."

"Itachi instructed you not to go up too," the fish pointed out.

Sasuke drew a breath and formed bubbles with his mouth. "I know. I don't trust him either. Since he lied to me."

Itachi lied to Sasuke about his 'training'. His brother was actually just playing with Shisui and other merpeople his age. Now, Sasuke felt like he couldn't trust any merpeople. So he decided to befriend the stupid fish.

"Flounder. Keep this a secret?" He asked the fish.

"Okay. But promise me you'll be safe."

"I will." Sasuke assured him.

Sasuke decided to learn the human ways of living. He would pick up items that dropped from ships and all. The young prince would store it inside a deserted cavern, where he chose to hang out, away from the other merpeople. That includes his own family.

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In the present day, Prince Sasuke was 18 years old. His voice changed into a deeper tone, a soft timbre. People would note on how smooth his voice had become. He ignored their stupid comments. Sasuke also noticed that Naruto's voice changed. It became deeper, and it sounded more mature. The prince liked it. However, nowadays, Naruto rarely came out to the shore. Maybe he was busy? It seemed that Naruto was the next in line for the throne, unlike himself, so people of the kingdom were making him busy and occupied. He noticed that from the everyday conversation that he eavesdropped from behind the rock on the surface.

Flounder would join him at times, and the fish noted that humans weren't as bad as the merpeople taught him.

"They looked nice, Sasuke."

"I know.. Father was exaggerating."

The two were exchanging conversation as they observed Naruto on the shore.

"You loved him, don't you?" asked the fish.

The question startled Sasuke, as he splashed his tail on accident. Naruto glanced to the rock, but after a while, the blonde human chose to ignore it.

"Flounder!" he scold the fish. "You almost got us caught."

"That means it's true. You love him." The fish's comment made Sasuke's cheeks turned pink.

"You really are weird, Sasuke," Flounder continued after he noted that Sasuke wouldn't answer his question. "You won't even look at the mermaids, and yet you prefer a human male. You're not even interested in female humans!"

Sasuke groaned in reaction to it. "So? I know I'm unique, and it's not like I'm getting the throne or something."

"Stop getting salty on that, Sasuke." The fish started to get annoyed by his comments. The two was swiming back into the depths of the sea.

The dark-haired merman grumbled at the fish. "Tch." The two swam to their hidden cavern. Sasuke wanted to visit his human stuffs. The odd duo swam through the coral reefs and head to their place. Before Sasuke could swam into the entrance, he saw something odd.

Someone, to be precise.

Flouder his behind his back, definitely scared, as a half sea serpent approached them. Its colour was a dull white, with purple lines along its side. Its eyes were yellow, eerrie as it sounds, and purple lines were around it. The man's upper body was very pale, almost white, with a very long black hair floating until its back.

"Hello.. Ssssasuke." It slithered around the man as it hissed its tongue. Flounder was trembling behind Sasuke's back.

"Who are you?" asked Sasuke while he eyed the thing cautiously.

"Call me.. Orochimaru.." He hissed around and traced Sasuke's beautiful jaw with his fingertips. He had hands? Was the thing part merman? Sasuke didn't even know.

"What do you want?" He spat to the man. He could feel that the sea serpent was circling his body, almost as an attempt of choking him.

"Me? Oh.. Nothing.. In particular.. Do you need anything from me?"

"Let me go." Sasuke's voice was demanding in authority. He hated to be touched.

Orochimaru chuckled and eased his grip on the merman. "I can make your dreamss.. come true.." He hissed to Sasuke's ear. Sasuke was confused, but then Orochimaru glanced to the surface, and tilted the merman's head so it faced the same way.

"Do you want to trade your fins..with human feet?"

Sasuke was stunned. His eyes enlarged, looking very intrigued with the offer. Flounder whimpered behind his back. "Sasuke, no!"

Before Sasuke could answer, Itachi appeared from afar. He didn't looked pleased at the view of Orochimaru wrapping his tail on his brother.

"Stay away from my brother." He stated from a distance, as his brother slowly swam towards them.

Orochimaru let go of Sasuke, and Itachi grabbed Sasuke's arm as he swam in front of him as a defending position.

"Itachi.." He hissed in disgust to the older merman. Orochimaru stared at Sasuke and smirked to the boy. "Very well.. I won't bother you.." Orochimaru hissed again as he slithered away from them. Itachi faced Sasuke and held his right shoulder with his palm.

"Sasuke. I told you not to go here. Do you know what could've happen if you-"

Sasuke slapped the hand away. He glared to his older brother.

"Don't tell me what to do. I can take care of myself," he spat it to his brother's face. For some reasons, Sasuke didn't like his older brother anymore. Sasuke swam away and Flounder followed him.

Itachi swam to catch his younger brother. "Sasuke, I mean it. Stay away from that sea serpent. He has bad intentions for you, I know it." Sasuke stopped swimming and faced his brother.

"So?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Nii-san, I'm not a child anymore. Just go away and do your 'training' sessions." Sasuke made sure he stressed the word 'training' when he said that.

"Sasuke.." Flounder pleaded to the young prince. Sasuke knew this fish hated confrontations. Very well then.

"I'll be inside my cavern. Don't bother me."

As Sasuke swam away, he knew he regretted saying those things to Itachi. He was pissed off when one day he saw him just hanging out with Izumi and Shisui. He told Sasuke in the face that he was too busy to play with him, because he was training. He was lying. Now, the 18 years old merman was dating Izumi. They would go on dates and all. Father was pleased by this, as Izumi could be a potential queen. But Sasuke was bothered by it, because they were constantly comparing him with Itachi.

Sasuke kept doing what he liked through all this years. Visiting the surface to stare at the blonde human boy.

* * *

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Sasuke swam calmly through the white tunnels of the underwater castles. Itachi was going to get married soon, with his dear Izumi. He was sure that Father called him this early to discuss about the ceremony.

"Yay," Sasuke muttered flatly under his breath.

He entered the huge cavern where his Father's throne was and swam to where to crowd was gathering. His mother smiled and welcomed him with open arms. Izumi and her family was there as well. They were discussing on the wedding ceremony. Sasuke took a good look at her parents. They definitely wanted their daughter to be crowned as the Queen of the Sea. Hypocrites. He shook their hands and gave them a quick fake smile.

He hated social events. Itachi gave him a faint smile, but Sasuke refused to smile back.

They talked for what seemed like ages, until Father decided on inviting most merpeople and other creatures of the ocean. The ceremony was a month away. Izumi and her parents departed from the castle after they finished discussing on it.

Sasuke was about to swim away until the King called him.

"Sasuke. Come here."

He obliged to his Father's word. Sasuke knew what was he about to say.

"As you see, Itachi is going to settle down soon." He started his lecture. Oh boy, here it comes. "I hope you find a mermaid as good as Izumi."

No, father, I'm definitely prefer a human, a human male, a human male named Naruto, to be precise. Sasuke thought that to himself, but all he could reply was a nod.

"Why don't you be with Sakura, dear?" asked the Queen. "She's seems to be fond of you."

Sasuke made a noise that sounded like an strangled whale, but he covered it with a cough. "No, mother," he replied weakly. "I'm not interested."

"I'm not too fond with the Harunos, but I think she's okay," said the King.

Sasuke felt like he was tossed into a hydrothermal vent. There was no way he was going to be with Sakura, or even _marrying_ her. That though itself made Sasuke shiver.

"Sasuke. Find a mermaid soon, okay? We want to ensure that the kingdom will live on." Fugaku stated simply, and Mikoto nodded to the statement.

Sasuke bowed to them quickly and looked away. He swam to the entrance and found Flounder there.

"Hey," the fish greeted him first. "You okay?"

Sasuke shook his head as they swam away from the castle together.

"No." He shut his eyes for a moment. "I need to go.. there. To clear my head."

Flounder agreed with the prince as they swam together to where the shore was. The sunlight was starting to reach the inside of the cold sea. They swam towards the surface above them. Sasuke broke the water surface with his head, and he moved his tail to where the rock was. He rested his head on the surface.

The shore was empty. No one was there. A little bit dissapointed, Sasuke slid back into the water and kept his head hovering above the surface.

"Sasuke. Care to talk now?"

The fish woke him up from his thoughts.

"Father wants me to find a mermaid. To be together with. To marry with." He pouted and crossed his arms across his bare chest. Sasuke looked away from the fish. "I hate them. All of them." The prince strared at the empty beach. "I wish.. I could go there. Be a human." He balled his fists in anger and frustration. "I couldn't take this anymore!"

Flounder looked at him, definitely sympathizing with the merman. The fish was about to say something, but a familiar loud and cheerful voice was heard from the shore. Both of them glanced to the source of voice.

"Naruto," Sasuke whispered.

He wanted to be with him. Sasuke just knew that Naruto was his solution. He never met him, or even talked to him, but he just.. knew. Sasuke felt a pang inside his hollow heart as he realised he couldn't be with him. He couldn't be with Naruto.

He must break their barrier to be together with the man he loved.

* * *

 **Sasuke is quite OOC from his original character.. Sorry.. But I made him similar to Canon!Sasuke.**

 **The song that was sung by Naruto and Konohamaru was called "My Jolly Sailor Bold", that made an appearance at the movie 'Pirates of the Carribean : On Stranger's Tides' during the mermaid scene.**

 **Do you like the story? Let me know!**

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 **Love, myfavoriteramen.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto or The Little Mermaid. This is just a crossover of both.**

 **Warning : Again, this is boy x boy pairing. Don't be homophobic. No mature content here.**

 **Here is the second part of it. This chapter will be from Naruto's perspective.**

 **Enjoy! xx**

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* * *

 **The Great Barrier Between Us**

 **Part 2**

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"I'm the King of the world!"

The young boy spread his arms as he shouted on top of his lungs. He was standing on a rock at the shore near his castle. Yes. His castle. The blonde boy was the heir of the kingdom, their soon to be king. The only reason he was not the one on the throne was his young age. Naruto was only an infant when the King and Queen, his parents, died when they sailed to the neighbouring country. The king's disciple, Kakashi, was assigned as the King until Naruto was 18 years old.

Or maybe in his case, until he was mature enough to lead the kingdom.

Young Naruto was very loud and energetic. The prince loved to visit the shore, he said to everyone that the place made him 'feel very free'. He would inhale the strong scent of the ocean and stared at the beautiful horizon. The ocean was a very mysterious place. Naruto wanted to explore them, as his own adventurer nature was starting to develop over time. Iruka, his teacher, prohibited him to enter the water at all cost.

"Why!?" Naruto asked the man in a very frustrated tone. He was nine at that time, which was about three years ago.

"It's very dangerous! You are part of the royal family, don't try anything stupid!" His brunette teacher was very protective over him.

Sadly, not acting stupid was just not him.

He would run around the empty halls of the castles and accidentally broke few artefacts. Okay, maybe more than few. Like the gorgeous, expensive and antique vase from King Rasa. Or the historical sword of the second king, Tobirama, that he accidentally split into two. Once, he painted a mustache on the face of the kingdom's founder, Hashirama. He really got grounded for that. And King Kakashi knew just the best punishment, which was a year of nonstop studying. Math, History, Geography, the list went on and on. He hated them all.

To escape the lectures, Naruto would run to the beach. And there he was, shouting to the horizon on his own and spreading his arms wide open as if he was declaring that he will be King. Yes, Naruto was running away from Iruka and his upcoming babbling in History.

"Naruto!" A roar from a very familiar voice could be heard from the distant.

Iruka found him. Crap.

The blonde prince jumped down to the sand, and dashed away from the shore to head towards the dock of the ships that were located at the east of the shore. No more studying.. No more studying! He loathed it.

Naruto pushed his legs' muscles almost into breaking point as he sped away from the direction of the brunet. Unfortunately, his teacher Iruka was also a trained man, his physique was on point. He catched up to Naruto's speed at no time. The blonde cursed his short legs. He had to beat Iruka when they have the same body proportion.

Iruka grabbed his body with both of his arms and scolded him impatiently. "Naruto! Where do you think you're going!?"

Naruto whined to his teacher as he tried to wiggle away from the death grip. "Iruka-sensei.. I hate studying!" He pouted and crossed his arms as he refused to look at the man in front of him. He hoped it could work.

Of course it didn't work. Like Iruka would listen to his babbling. Now, he was dragged to the castle to study more useless stuff.

Fine.

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.

Naruto forced his head to stay up as his private teacher taught him History. Long time ago there was a war blablabla.. He didn't really care. The young prince wanted to play with the sand yet again. Something about the ocean drew him in. The blond glanced at the window that was pretty far away from where he was. Oh, look at the clear blue sky!

Iruka cleared his throat as he realised Naruto was distracted again. With a grumble, he stared back at his teacher in front of him. Naruto was bored to death! He fiddled his fingers into the pages of the book. Suddenly, the young prince had an idea. He picked up his pen to draw Iruka in an empty paper. Hoho. This was entertaining.

He drew Iruka in an.. interesting way, and luckily his teacher didn't notice it for the first five minutes.

"And during the war, King Hiruzen's two sons-" Iruka stopped talking once he saw what Naruto was doing. He silently walked to the young prince's desk to observe his activity. And there he was, the noble private teacher of the kingdom's heir, drawn as an angry homeless man with his hair down. Naruto even completed the drawing with red devil's horns on his messy and rustled hair. He snatched the paper from Naruto, and it startled the boy.

"Ah! Iruka-sensei! It's not finished!" The blond tried to jump up to pick up his drawing.

"Oh?" Iruka asked him skeptically while he studied the drawing with a raised eyebrow. "Naruto, you should be learning History at the moment, not Art!"

Naruto pouted once more as his drawing was taken away from him. There goes his entertainment. Iruka placed it on his own desk and sat down for a while. Wow. The brunet teacher really looked frustrated. Naruto was secretly happy when he looked at his teacher's reaction. Oh! Maybe this way Iruka could dismiss him because he was upset of the drawing! Naruto grinned on his own. Yes. His teacher was studying his drawing with such tired expression.

 _Tee hee, do you like the additional details, sensei?_ Naruto spoke to himself inside his own mind.

Iruka sat down and pressed his palm to his face, and wiped his scarred face about three times. He put his palm down slowly, and stared to the ceiling for a moment. Naruto was grinning and chuckling. Yes. C'mon. Dismiss me. C'mon..

Suddenly, his brunet teacher snapped out of his train of thought and spoke up to the young prince. "Naruto, today we'll do something different."

The blonde looked up in question. What? He wasn't going to kick him out?

Iruka stood up and scrambled around to search more books from the shelves inside the room. Naruto twisted his body to analyse whatever his teacher was doing.

"Iruka-sensei?"

His call was ignored, as his teacher seemed determined to find something among those mountain of books. Naruto hoped it wouldn't be another stupid history book. His teacher finally found an old, thin book up by a tall bookshelf, and brought it to his desk. The book was rusty, with a sky blue colour complementing it. Naruto tried to peek, but from his seat he couldn't tell much.

"How bout we learn literature? I'll just read you the story, then we discuss it afterwards." His teacher gave him a surprisingly warm smile.

Naruto crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks. "I hate reading, sensei."

"But I bet you like this one. It's fantasy. A story about a mermaid"

Naruto was confused. "What's a mermaid?"

Iruka laughed for a few seconds. "Ah! It is my job after all to inform you about this. It's a mythical creature, a woman with a fish tail replacing their feet."

The blond prince felt his eyes widened in awe. "Wow! That's so cool! So, they're all woman with fish tails?"

"Well, of course they have their male version as well, Naruto."

"Ah!" Naruto nodded to the teacher. "Okay, sensei! Tell me, tell me!"

The tall brunet cleared his throat after he opened the pages of the book. This boy was very easy to distract.

"The Little Mermaid."

He hoped the story was enough to keep up with the young prince's short attention span. Iruka knew the story well, so he decided to summarize it in a way that Naruto would understand.

"Once a upon a time, a young mermaid lived underwater, with their castle far beneath the surface. The merpeople were allowed to go up to the surface when they reached 15 years old, so when it was her birthday, she went up to the surface to take a look at the outside world. She fell in love with a human prince from a nearby kingdom as the prince celebrated his birthday on the shore. One day, the prince's ship sunk, and the mermaid rescued him from drowning to death." Naruto taps his feet on the floor as his teacher spoke.

"The young mermaid loved the prince dearly, as she would stare at him during day and night, not so far but not so close to the shore. Sadly, the mermaid couldn't be with the man, no matter how she loved him. The prince married a princess from a neighbouring kingdom, and she was devastated as she saw the ceremony from the distance. Her sisters persuaded her to marry a merman instead, and she reluctantly agreed to it." Iruka's face looked gloom as he recalled the storyline.

"Wait, that's it?" asked Naruto.

"Not really. The mermaid died young due to a heartbreak. She couldn't forget the man."

"That's a shitty story!" The blond whined and crossed his arms. His teacher just chuckled at his behavior.

"Yeah, I know. This book was really old, Naruto. Maybe it's from the fifteenth century?" Iruka flipped the pages carefully to check it. "Yes, about that. But I think this one is the second version of the book. I haven't checked the first one yet, which is way older, they might have changed the story or something."

"Sensei, I don't like the story." Naruto felt devastated after hearing the story. Other tales were much more lively and interesting!

Iruka laughed for a while, and asked Naruto a simple question. "So, Prince Naruto, what did you receive from the story?"

"The mermaid is a coward!" Determination flashed from his eyes. "I mean, look at her. All pathetic like that!"

"Exactly." His teacher nodded. "Here is my perspective. The writers wanted to persuade the readers, Naruto. The message was to marry those who were at the same level as you are."

The boy was about to chime in but Iruka stopped him before he did.

"Wait for a moment. I'm not finished yet. It was their perception." He smiled to Naruto. "My advice to you, young prince, is to never give up on love. Be courageous. Don't be like the mermaid, who wept and cried because she couldn't be with her loved one."

The blond prince grinned and step up onto the table. Iruka just smirked at this behavior; he couldn't stop the prince from acting up this way.

"Don't worry, Iruka-sensei!" he pound his fist into his chest. "One day I'll be a brave king, and find the mermaid of my dreams!"

The brunet slapped his own forehead. "No!" He approached Naruto to ask him to sit back down. "Sit down. Okay. Mermaids do not exist. It was just a story."

Raising an eyebrow, he raised his legs up to the table. "I'm sure they exist." He crossed his arms to challenge his older teacher.

Shaking his head in confusion and frustration, Iruka went back to his desk. "Stop making things up, Naruto."

"I'm not. I know someone was keeping an eye on me when I was on the shore. I can feel it."

"...What? Naruto, stop talking nonsense."

"I'm not!"

Iruka-sensei shook his head, giving up on talking to the dense boy. "Okay then, let's go back to History."

"Noooooo!" Naruto screamed while he clutched both his hands to his spiky blond hair.

And the young prince was once again, stuck in the study room to learn lessons with Iruka.

* * *

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Naruto, the heir of the kingdom, turned 16. He became taller and his voice became deeper, but it had the same bubbly and energetic tone. He was back at the shore, he always go there when his mind was hectic and lost. Today, he received a very horrible news.

.

.

 _"What!? No way!" Naruto shouted back at the king and his teacher, Kakashi and Iruka. "I'm not marrying some random girl!"_

 _"Calm down," the King's tone was very laid back. Although he was the replacement king, he was very well known as a fierce, yet calm ruler. All three of them were gathering on the dining table, finishing their breakfast, when the king decided to deliver the news._

 _"She's not some random girl. You met her. Princess Hinata from the Hyuga kingdom." His teacher reassured him. But Naruto was boiling with rage._

 _"No!" he slammed his palms into the dining table, making some plates and bowls shook, spilling its contents into the white sheets of the table. "Especially her! I don't like her! She's so freaking weird! She stalks me into my room, but she didn't want to talk to me! Argh!" Naruto was panting right now, as he darted those words like lightning. "Especially her, dammit! How dare you force me into this shit!?"_

 _"Naruto," the King gave him a warning tone. "Behave yourself."_

 _The blond prince stood still in silence, his heavy breathing filled the room. His body was shaking in anger, his fists fisting tightly. After a few moments, Naruto_ _pointed his finger to his teacher._

 _"Iruka-sensei, you yourself told me years ago, to never give up on love. Yet you force me to marry some girl?" His tone was bitter and sarcastic. "And I don't have any romantic feelings whatsoever towards her! It's not fair!"_

 _Iruka took a very deep breath. Kakashi the King was staring at him, well, he didn't know about all this._

 _"Naruto," he started, "I know I said that. But this is for the sake of the kingdom. If you marry the princess, our relationship with the Hyuga kingdom would be stronger for sure. You have to understand this."_

 _"Besides," the King chimed in into the conversation. "Do you have someone else in mind?"_

 _Naruto remained silent as he stared into the table's surface in boiling anger, his fists balled into his sides. He mumbled something that the others couldn't hear._

 _"Naruto?" the King asked him._

 _He gave the table one last slam, and the blond prince ignored the others as he stormed out of the room, heading for the shore. Konohamaru, the grandson of the king before his father, was walking into the room to have breakfast, but he pushed him aside for blocking his way._

 _"N-Naruto-niisan! What the heck!?" The boy's voice could be heard from a distance. Naruto was still storming away from the room._

 _"Leave him be, Konohamaru." The king replied to him. After that, the door closed and the echo rumbled across the narrow and long hallway._

 _._

 _._

 _._

Here he was on his favorite spot throughout the shore. He sat down on the warm sand, took off his shoes and rolled up his pants up. Naruto sat quietly as he purposely dipped a part of his feet into the cold water. The blond made sure he sat down where the tide wouldn't reach him.

 _'I haven't met them yet'_ was what he about to say to the King. He knew it, someone was always watching him somewhere beyond the shore. However, today, he couldn't feel the pair of eyes that was watching him. Maybe they stopped?

Naruto was always very sensitive when it comes to his sixth sense. He would know if someone was around in the kitchen or not (so he could steal more food), or even sensing a pair of eyes that was watching him. Maybe that was why he didn't like Hinata. He caught her staring at him weirdly. And her stares were not.. right. Something was just off. But the gaze he felt when he sat on the beach was different. It was.. more okay, in some way. He couldn't put it into words. He knew someone was looking at him, but somehow, he didn't mind it. One day, he couldn't take the curiosity that filled him, and he yelled out 'Who's there!?' to some rock quite far from the shore.

Of course no one responded. People thought Naruto was seeing a ghost or something.

And after that, Naruto just chose to ignore it. He tried to look around, but still, he couldn't find anyone. It could be a mermaid or something was looking at him.

 _Nah. Naruto, you're dreaming too much. Stop making things up. Mermaids don't exist._

He woke up from his train of thoughts when he suddenly remembered the event this morning. That put his mood off again.

He didn't even like Princess Hinata. Okay, the girl was actually nice, but he didn't have any feeling whatsoever for the girl. And that was the main problem. How could someone marry another person who they have no feelings for!? The princess was quite bland, and everytime Naruto tried to talk to her, she turned as red as a tomato and fainted. That, was very troublesome.

Prince Naruto met a lot of other people from various kingdoms throughout the years. The Hyuga Kingdom was one of them. The ones who came here were the princess Hinata and her cousin Neji, along with King Hiashi himself. Neji was quite fierce, and he was very protective of his young cousin. The Konoha Kingdom had very good relationship with the Hyuga Kingdom since the beginning of time.

 _Yes, but that didn't mean I have to marry that weird princess!_

Another Kingdom was the Suna Kingdom, where he met his friend Prince Gaara. He went there years ago on a trip with King Kakashi and several other men. Ironically, he had similar background story to Naruto himself. Prince Gaara was the third child of King Rasa. One day, the king was brutally assassinated by a group of radicals. Gaara was about ten years old when it happened, and the news shocked Naruto as well. Gaara will be appointed as their next heir. They swapped letters every month, telling each other about their daily activities. The blond really consider him as a very good friend.

That reminds him. He should write another letter to Gaara soon. Ah, and to write about the ridiculous preposition from King Kakashi.

"Nooo!" Naruto grabbed his spiky hair and pulled it up in frustrations as he screamed to the emptiness. He kept remembering that!

Naruto closed his eyes to cool down his anger once more. He made sure to inhale the strong scent of the sea, and once it filled his lungs, his mind started to clear up. Yes. He loved the ocean. The blond prince tilted his head up, and opened his sky blue eyes that matches the horizon. He tried to identify the rolling clouds up above him. Okay. That one looked like.. cotton. That one looked like.. a dog? And that one looked like a person's head. Prince Naruto leaned back a little so his back would touch the sand, and used his left arm to support his body. He used his finger from his right hand to trace the outline of the clouds.

Why couldn't he be as free as those clouds?

They could just roll over in the sky, and y'know, not having to marry some random weird princess.

He shook his head to try to eliminate that thought. That was so cringe worthy.

 _I didn't even understand this interest in woman!_ His inner voice was screaming inside like crazy.

"Gahh!" Naruto kicked the water until some of it splashed his white pants.

Damn it. Life sucks.

The blond sat upright and pondered about it. He wanted to be the king, yes, he knew it. He wanted to guide the people, and be acknowledged that he wasn't just their troublesome, annoying prince. He could actually _be_ their leader. Naruto knew it well deep inside his heart.

But being a king didn't mean that he had to marry someone he didn't even like!

Prince Naruto wanted to marry someone he actually cared about, he wanted to marry someone he loves. The blond stared at the horizon, his spiky hair was swept away by the strong wind. Yes.

He just hadn't met them yet. Whoever they are.

"Naruto, there you are." A soft yet familiar voice spoke above him.

The prince tilted his head to look up at his teacher, Iruka.

"What do you want, Iruka-sensei?" He tried to control the tone of his voice. Naruto hoped his teacher wouldn't force him into this marriage talk again.

Instead of answering him directly, the brunet man sat down next to him. Naruto silently stared at the older man as he positioned himself on the warm sand. Iruka's face was starting to age, huh. Not really visible, but you can tell that he was getting older now. Maybe all those years of privately teaching Naruto started to age him up, heh.

But yeah, now he was supposed to be angry at him. So Naruto sat in silence, waiting for whatever the man has to say.

"Say, Naruto," he started. "Have I ever told you the story of how your parents met?"

"Eh?" The prince managed to slip it out. What?

"I guess I told you before how they were always in love, right?" Iruka gave him a warm smile.

The blond stared at the sand, and then he moved his gaze to the calm waters across him. Iruka did told him stories of how the King and Queen were a lovely couple, and how the people loved them dearly. They would play around in the beach like they were young kids. It somehow hurt Naruto when he tried to imagine his blond father and red-headed mother, giggling and laughing as they play in the sand together. He wanted to share those moment with them.

But he didn't know how they met each other.

Iruka took his silence as a cue to continue talking. "Your father was not the descendant of King Hiruzen. King Hiruzen's child died in the battle with our enemy kingdom. I did teach you about this, right?" Naruto nodded and hummed in agreement. "He chose your father as his heir because he was his best men he ever had. When King Hiruzen passed away in his bed because of his illness, your father took his position as the King."

"But by then, he was already married to your mother."

"Really?" asked Naruto with curiosity. Why didn't anyone talked to him about this?

"Yes," Iruka smiled. "Some people were skeptical when your mother became the Queen. Some say she wasn't good enough because she's just a village girl, a fisherman's daughter. But she proved them wrong, Naruto. Queen Kushina was the best. She helped the villagers a lot of times. People fell in love with her and her charms." The brunet crossed his legs for a moment. "They were childhood friends. They fell in love at a young age, long before your father pursued his career as one of the king's men. I heard this story from the King Kakashi, actually," he smiled briefly to Naruto whose eyes were shining and gleaming in awe. "Your mother, I guess you heard this from a lot of people, had the exact same personality as you. It attracts your father, I heard. And your mother was always in awe of your father's calm and reassuring character. They grew up together as best friends, then lovers, and they finally married each other and lived happily ever after."

Naruto was imagining his parents as young children, holding hands together and smiling in awe with each other. It was a beautiful image. He wanted to meet them so badly.

"My point is, Naruto, whoever you want to marry is your choice," Iruka said. "What the king and I said earlier today, is just a preposition. Of course, it would be better if you say yes, but again I understand you. You don't love the girl, and feelings can't be forced."

"Are you saying I don't have to marry her?"

"Yes. That's what me and the king have discussed. But the preposition is still there, Naruto. If, let say, you change your mind, everything will be prepared for you."

"Then it's a no," Naruto's tone was firm and final. Iruka nodded slowly in reaction to it.

"Very well then. I won't force you this time. I do want you to marry someone you truly love." Iruka's stare was gentle and full of understanding. It actually calmed him a little.

"Thank you, sensei," Naruto gave him his wide grin.

Iruka, as annoying as he was, he was the closest figure to a father that he had. And he was very thankful of it. The man really understands him.

"Naruto," Iruka called him out again to snap him out of his daydreaming.

"Y-Yeah?" He hoped Iruka-sensei didn't notice his teary eyes.

"Actually, we have another news for you. Before you decided to storm out of the castle and all."

"What is it?" The blond prince was curious.

Iruka stretches his feet so it touches the water. "The fishermen found something when they were fishing yesterday. This," he pulled out something from his pocket, "was found inside one of their nets."

Naruto studied the item that his teacher was holding on his palm. It was a gold pocket watch that was rather rusty.

"Um, what is this?" Naruto was confused. Was this even related to him?

"Naruto, this was King Minato's compass. King Kakashi recognised it immediately."

Prince Naruto's jaw dropped in shock. His hand, trembling subconsciously, touched the item with his fingertips.

"Go on, it's for you to keep."

Naruto finally grabbed it and traced his index finger to the outer engraving, which was a huge letter "M". It was even more precious once he knew who it belongs to. He will cherish this thing. Naruto flipped it open, to see a fully functioning compass inside.

"But how..?" he was still in shock. "Iruka-sensei, did they found..?"

"No," Iruka shook his head. "There were no signs of the sunken ship or the.. bodies," both men turned gloom. "I'm sorry, Naruto. Some people did saw what happened from a distance, but we think that the ship is way down there, deep inside the ocean, beyond our reach." Iruka stared at the golden compass in Naruto's palm. "But this is the remaining memory of your father, Naruto. I believe you will keep this treasured."

"I will," Naruto reassured him. "I will treasure this will all my life."

His brunet teacher smiled at him and stood up slowly, he cleaned the rest of the sands from his clothes.

"Okay. Let's go back. King Kakashi said he wanted to test your sword skills in a duel."

"Hah!" Naruto's spirit was back up once again. He stood up and balled his fist in determination. "I'll beat him to pulp, believe it!"

The two walked back to the castle laughing together, when the civilians saw them walking, they would bow to them in respect. Naruto, being the flashy and attention seeking prince, waved at them enthusiastically.

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* * *

 **Hello! It took long for another update.. sorry:(**

 **Notes _(Just a little, more in-depth explanation)_ : ****Okay, do you recognise the story that was told by Iruka? It was somehow a mixture of the original story of The Little Mermaid, and my own manipulation to the story. I know, I purposely made it an ugly tale. If you notice, Iruka said there was a first copy of the book. The second one, which was the one that Iruka read to Naruto, was manipulated. This is due to the people still attached to the merpeople at that time. To finally cut the ties with them (because the religious priests banned them from existence, calling them the creatures of darkness), the humans recreated the stories to manipulate the minds of the people. Iruka, however, noticed this and addressed the critical point to Naruto. He thought it was a way to persuade people to marry those from the same social level as you are, but he didn't notice that it was actually a ban for contacting or interacting with the merpeople. (The society became less superstitious, and they don't believe in mythical creatures now. But they still follow the rules of not swimming in the ocean or touching some parts of the sea, only fishermen can go fish but the number of fishermen have to be limited as well)**

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 **Thank you so much for the reviews! This story is kinda for a niche audience, but I'm happy that some of you liked it!**

 **Thenarusasuthing (Guest) : Thank you so much! Yes, I've been planning this story for a long time actually, and I finally published it recently:) I'm so glad you like it!**

 **So that was kinda the introduction chapters of the two characters. Next chapters could be a mix of both perception :) I wonder what will happen next, hmm?**

 **Let me know of what you think!**

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 **Love, myfavoriteramen.**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER : The usual, I don't own Naruto or Little Mermaid.**

 **Warning : Boy x boy pairing!**

 **This chapter will be a mix of Naruto and Sasuke's POV. Thank you for all the reviews so far!**

 **Enjoy! xx**

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* * *

 **The Great Barrier Between Us**

 **Part 3**

* * *

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 _Dear Prince Gaara of Suna,_

 _How are you? I received your letter a few days ago. Thank you for your kind invitation. Of course I will come to your_ _inauguration ceremony at Suna. It would be a pretty long voyage, but I will make sure I'll arrive on time. King Kakashi couldn't come, he needed to do some_ _errands. He sent his regards for you and your wonderful kingdom. I will travel there with Konohamaru and my teacher Iruka._

 _Things in Konoha had been fine. We built a second school for the children. I visited them during the opening, and it was wonderful. Children are lovely, aren't they? It's amazing to see these children look up to you._

 _You're finally going to be the King! You beat me first! Iruka-sensei said I wasn't ready yet, but maybe sooner. I just have to wait, I guess. Besides, I'm turning 18 soon! I'll make sure you're invited to my birthday party._

 _Update me on the situation in Suna, okay? I hope to see you soon, my friend._

 _Regards,_

 _Prince Naruto of Konoha._

 _._

 _._

Naruto put down his pen after reading it twice. Okay. This seemed fine. His handwriting was always messy anyway, but at least this looked neater than his usual one. Iruka had been teaching him how to write a proper letter, but it was still tough for him. Guess he still needed to improve on that. But this one was for Gaara anyway, so it would be fine. The blond signed the paper, just above his name. He wrapped the letter neatly and prepared to send it back to Gaara. Wow. His friend was going to be a king! After the ceremony, they have to call him King Gaara. The blond prince was pretty jealous.

There was a knock on the door. Naruto stood up and spoke towards the direction of the door.

"Come in!"

A servant sheepishly opened the door and bowed to him with grace. She was pretty beautiful, her long brown hair shaped her features nicely. The girl seemed new.

"Prince Naruto, your lunch is ready."

Naruto smiled at her. "Thank you very much. I'll go to the dining room soon. And, oh yeah, are you new?"

"Y-yes. I just worked here yesterday," she stuttered because of her nerves. The girl couldn't look at Naruto's face.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Y-Yumi, Y-Your Highness."

Naruto nodded and grinned. "Don't be so scared! I won't bite or anything," He smiled gently. "Welcome to the Palace of Konoha, Yumi!"

Her face relaxed and she bowed once more to the blond prince. "Thank you, Your Highness." She left the room afterwards and closed the door gently.

Naruto was always polite to everyone in the castle. The butlers, servants, maids, cooks, all were fond of him. The Prince was a bundle of sunshine that always brightened everyone's day. The blond tidied his desk and left the room to have lunch on the dining hall. He would send the letter later after his lunch.

* * *

 _Months later.._

 _._

 _._

 _._

"You are very rude to Izumi, Sasuke, can you just-"

"No," he spat it. "Mother, I do not like her."

Queen Mikoto's face was stern, and it was definitely a rare occasion. "Dear," he gave him a warning tone. "She will be your sister-in-law. She will be a part of our family. Do not use harsh tone when you speak to her!"

Sasuke was silent but he was feeling like snapping back. The Queen rarely gets angry. She was always the patient one, but today, it seemed that she was really annoyed with Sasuke's action.

This morning, Izumi offered Sasuke a gift, but the angsty mermen declined her offer. He didn't even look at it. The Queen was there and she saw everything. Once Izumi went home, she scolded Sasuke big time.

"I do not like her."

"She's being nice to you!"

"Mother, she was _bribing_ me." It was clear. Izumi knew Sasuke didn't like her at all, so she tried to win his heart by giving him gifts. As if he would be petty and agreed to receive the thing.

"She was not!" His mother raised her voice. "Sasuke, you are always rude! What is wrong with you!?"

 _What's wrong with me, she said?_ Sasuke's inner voice rang on his head.

"Everything," he spat.

"We did not raise you to be like this! Your father and I expected you to be better." She continued scolding him in a high-pitched voice.

 _Oh, now, even mother hates me too?_

"You did raise me this way, mother."

"Stop talking back at me!"

He stopped talking altogether. Sasuke felt even more sour than he used to be. Mother hated him too, did she?

"It was all because of that day," she talked with rage in her tone. "When you, when you decided to go up to the surface! It ruined you!"

Sasuke stiffened at that sentence. No. How did she dare to mention that? His eyes were now filled with hatred and anger, as he stared into his mother's pitch black eyes.

"What?"

"I've always been weird," he said. "I'm not Itachi. I'm just a failure." And with that, he swam away from her.

The Queen grabbed his free arm tightly. "Don't swim away just like that!" She yanked him back to his position. Sasuke swatted her grip away.

"Let me go," he gave her an ice cold glare.

It seemed that his mother was too shock to say anything, because she let go of her grip an just stayed where she was instead of following Sasuke out of their underwater castle.

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"Naruto, are you sure we must go now?"

"Yes, Iruka-sensei," Naruto was helping the others loading the cargo on board even though they said they didn't need the prince's help. "We must reach Suna early. The voyage will be rough and long, so I think we must leave today."

His brunet teacher looked up to the sky to observe it. "I hope everything goes fine."

"Omph," Naruto placed the box on the wooden floor of the ship. "Is that all, Mr Oda!?" He shouted to the man on the dock.

"Yes, My Prince!" He waved the blond prince to signal all was loaded.

"Okay!" Naruto beamed. "Hey, where's Konohamaru!?"

"Coming!"

A spiky-haired brunet was running from the docks up to the ship.

"Is that everything, Konohamaru?" asked Iruka-sensei.

"Yes, sensei! I packed this and this.. oh and more food!" He was showing them the contents of his oversized bag.

"You always bring extra food, Konohamaru!" Naruto laughed at him. This boy was like his own younger brother.

Naruto straightened up his white and gold royal coat and fixed his hair. It was a bit useless, because the wind messed with it again. He cleared his throat and loudened his voice.

"Alright, everyone! Gather up!"

Every crew member of the ship ran up to where Prince Naruto, their captain, was standing. The crew always enjoyed Naruto's presence. They had their ultimate trust for their prince, their future king, their future leader of the country.

"We're going to sail to Suna! Again, I hope everyone contributes well in this voyage, so we can all arrive safely at our destination," he started his quick pep talk. "And I think you're all aware of this, we're going to pass the King's Graveyard on the way to Suna," his tone lowered a bit. Everyone got a bit anxious as well.

"Ships sunk there. Including.. well you know," he couldn't bring himself to say it. "But we can go through all that! Once we passed that area, our journey shall be fine. Don't let your fear stop you, ladies and gentlemen!" He raised his fists up, and received cheers from all crew members.

The ship sailed away, and citizens were waving away at them.

"Bye bye! I will return soon!" He waved back with a wide, lovable grin. "So long!"

Konohamaru was jumping up and down, waving back at the audience on the dock that was slowly becoming small. Naruto turned his body so it faced front, and held the steering wheel. He gripped it tightly, steadying the huge ship. Naruto opened his compass, his father's compass, and held it tightly in his palm. The prince turned the steering wheel until it faced north.

"Set sail for Suna! We should be at King's Graveyard in about an hour or two!" He shouted to his crew members. Prince Konohamaru was observing Naruto beside him, studying how to operate the steering wheel and all.

"Konohamaru," he called the boy. "C'mere. You should try to control this thing again. You still need more practice, right?"

"Oh!" The brunet boy was excited. Iruka was standing behind them, smiling as he observed the the two bickering with each other. Iruka was like their own father, since both boys were orphans.

"And.. yup! You got it, Konohamaru!"

"Yes!" He pumped his fist in excitement. "I can finally sail this thing!"

"You'll need practice, of course," Naruto gave him a pat on the back. He opened his compass and checked the direction. Yup. Still heading north.

He hoped the King's Graveyard would be forgiving.

.

.

.

"What is it this time, Sasuke?"

He ignored the fish completely, as he swam far far away from the castle. He didn't even look to where he was going.

"Sasuke? We've been swimming for ages." Flounder asked him one more time. "Sasuke?" His tone sounded anxious. "Sasuke!"

The purple-tailed merman ignored the fish once again. He didn't want to talk. He just wanted to go far, far away from his castle. He knew they had been swimming for a very long time. Sasuke didn't know how long he moved his tails to ran away from his place. Mother hated him too. The whole castle hated him. Nice. And now he was on the deep ocean floor with Flounder and-

Oh. Wait.

Where was he?

Sasuke stopped moving his tail and observed his surrounding. The water was darker, he guessed he swam deeper than he thought. For some reason, he had never been here before. The coral structures were different. The raven looked up to the surface, but the sun didn't shine through it. But about a mile away, he saw something he never seen before.

A huge shipwreck.

He glanced at the fish, which was also staring at the enormous object lying at the bottom of the dark, cold ocean.

"I knew this was here for a long time," said the fish. "But I never actually go inside of it. I'm scared of the sharks," Flounder shivered at the thought.

"What happened?" Sasuke murmured.

"I think it sunk because of the storm. This part of the ocean.. I heard it was dangerous. The storms were violent."

Sasuke stared at the ocean graveyard. He knew that the shipwreck will be full of sharks, but they wouldn't dare to attack him. But for Flounder.. Sasuke didn't want the fish to feel anxious around here because it was shark infested.

The raven looked up to the surface, but it was dark. It wasn't supposed to be dark yet, right?

"Is that what's going on up there? A storm?"

Flounder followed his gaze. "…Probably, yes."

"...Let's check it out." Sasuke swam up slowly, fixing his gaze to the gloomy looking surface.

"Uh, are you sure?" But the fish followed him anyway. Sasuke was sure this fish was not a remora, but Flounder always stick to him like that breed of fish.

They swam up for minutes, but the colour of the water remained dark. The raven finally reached the surface first, breaking the water with his head. The area was definitely surrounded by dark, heavy clouds, completed by rolling thunder and horribly strong wind. It even messed Sasuke's hair. The wind chilled his bare chest, and he decided to go back underwater. Poseidon seemed to be really pissed today.

Little did Sasuke know that a ship entered the storm.

.

.

.

"Gah!" Naruto tried spinning the wheel around to avoid the big waves, but still, it was no use. The storm was horrible, and at this point everybody was soaking wet.

"Everyone! Hold on tight!" He roared on top of his lungs so every person on board could hear his voice. The ship was rocked left to right, and it was making Naruto's head dizzy. Crap! Did he chose the wrong timing after all?

The rain was soaking them even more, mixing with the salt water that was splashing up to the deck of their ship. Thunder crackled somewhere far ahead of them, and it was getting rougher and rougher.

The prince spun the wheel to the right, avoiding an incoming flood of tall water. Crap! C'mon.. c'mon..

They successfully avoid it. Yeah! But the ship rocked to the left, some crew fell down on the wooden deck.

Naruto's spiky hair was soaked wet, he had to wipe his locks back to have a clear view of what was ahead of them. But all they could see was a never ending dark clouds. Oh no. It seemed that they went off course.

"Konohamaru!" Naruto screamed his name. "Take over the wheel! Now!"

Without any more words, the brunet boy took over the wheel for Naruto. His face looked stressed and stern as he tried to balance the heavy wheel. Iruka was not here with them, so he had to give it to Konohamaru. Ah, there was Iruka-sensei. He helped some crew members that fell down, and now he was rushing back to where his two students were standing.

"Naruto-niisan!" He shouted. "What're you doing!?"

"I'm finding the right direction!" Prince Naruto shouted back, trying to grab his father's golden compass that was inside his coat's front pocket. "Wait for my instruction!"

"Okay!" The brunet slicked his hair back with his left hand and focused back on steadying the ship. Iruka tried to help Konohamaru as well, and they hold the wheel together as Naruto tried to find the right direction: North.

The blond flipped the compass open, and he tried to steady his body to look at the compass. Shoot. It was covered with the bloody water. Naruto used his hand, that was holding the pilar, to wipe of the blurry glass that covered the pointer. Ah!

"Turn it 90 degrees to the left! Now!"

"Okay!" Both Konohamaru and Iruka shouted back as they spun the wheel together.

As the ship shifted in an instant, Naruto did a horrible mistake. He didn't place his left hand back to the pillar, and he lost balance right away. He fell to the wet, slippery deck. The golden compass in his right hand fell over as well, and it was a feet away from him.

His mind was blurry, but as he saw the golden compass not in his hand anymore, he panicked big time. There it was. No way Naruto was going to let it go!

He crawled closer to the compass using his arms and legs, but the wooden deck was really wet. He slipped here and there, and the compass swiped to the right because of the ship turning to another direction. No!

"Ugh!" The whole ship rocked because of the wave, and Naruto spitted some of the water that entered his mouth. Oh, Thank God the compass was still there! It moved a few feet away from him. C'mon!

The blond stood up with his every strength to fight the wind and ran for the compass. He slipped once, but he stood up again and rushed for it.

Just a little more.. Just a little more..

"Naruto! What are you doing!?" Iruka screamed to him in question of his action.

"The compass!" He shouted back. Ah! It was finally back in his palm. It was very near to the edge, and Naruto stood up and leaned to the edge of the ship.

"I got it!" He waved it to Iruka as proof. But then, suddenly the ship rocked again to the right, slamming Naruto's body to the edge of the ship, and this time the compass slipped away from his hand and fell into the ocean.

No.

.

.

Then everything seemed to be in slow motion.

.

.

He could even hear his own heartbeat from his eardrums, speeding up as time goes by.

.

.

"Naruto! Noo! Leave it!" He could hear Iruka screamed in terror from a distance.

Some crew members were screaming at him too, warning him not to jump and to let it go, but he ignored it.

He jumped up to the platform, took a very, very deep breath, and dived down to the ocean.

Like he would leave that compass behind.

.

.

The jump was brief, and he was now underwater. The water was freezing, but it didn't bother him. A glimpse of gold could be seen, dropping down to the bottom even faster than Naruto himself. The blond prince stretches his every muscle in his body to swim and reach the golden compass. He reached out his right hand as far as he could so he can grab the compass.

But it seemed to be no use.

He paddled his feet as fast as he could, holding his breath and forcing his lungs to conceal the oxygen.

His ears were starting to hurt. The pressure of the ocean were affecting him. His eyes stung from the salty water that surrounded him, but he had no choice than to keep it open. He had to get it back. He had to get it back. He had to get it back.

Oh, God! His lungs were screaming for air! He started to snort air bubbles from his nose. No! The compass was still far from his reach!

.

.

.

Sasuke froze at where he were. It couldn't be..

Naruto.

It was definitely him.

He saw from the distance, a blond haired man diving down deeper and deeper, paddling his human feet in desperation. He was stretching out his right hand. What was he doing!? Men couldn't breath underwater! He could die!

Instinctively, he swam quickly to the blond. Oh no. H-He was drowning. Why was he here!? Then Sasuke saw a glimpse of gold, a few feet below the blond man, still pretty far from his reach. Was he reaching for that object..?

Flounder screamed at him. "Hurry!"

"I know!" He shouted back.

More air bubbles were forming from the man's nose. But the man seemed so determined to grab that shining object in front of him.

Why!?

.

.

.

His vision was becoming darker and darker, but Naruto was sure of what he saw on the ocean floor, way below him.

The compass was shining gloriously a few feet below him, and in the background, was an enormous shipwreck. He knew that ship well. A few painting were made in memory of the ship. It was the 'Kushina'. Yes. It was named after his mother.

It was as if the compass jumped by itself to return to its rightful owner. As if the compass were not satisfied with him, and demanded to be returned to his father. His father, King Minato, who died from a sunken ship.

 _Father.. Mother.. Perhaps you were calling me?_

His lungs hurt so much! Some of the water were leaking in.

 _Father.. Mother.. Perhaps you want me to go to the afterlife with you? Do you want my body to rest here with the two of you in the King's Graveyard?_

His body was giving up, his vision was blurry and dark, but he could see the golden compass glistening in the darkness of the ocean.

 _Perhaps you were always meant to be here, eh, little compass?_

The blond let his eyes closed, accepting his defeat as he was slowly drowning. His senses seemed to be dead.

Huh? Wait..

This feeling.. It's familiar. He felt this before.

It's closing in..

But he couldn't sense whatever that was even further, as his mind shut down as he passed out in the depths of the ocean.

.

.

.

Sasuke grabbed his body firmly, merely seconds after the blond became unconscious. He wrapped his arms around the blond man and carried him up to the surface as fast as he could. He shook his tail violently, ordering every muscle to work the tail as quickly as they could. C'mon! This man must NOT die!

Flounder held the shiny object with its fins and swam up together with Sasuke. The two shared no words as they were focusing on one destination: the surface.

The pale merman opened a few button from the blond's outer wear. He feared that it would choke him more. As his tail was guiding his body to the surface, he trailed his fingertips on Naruto's cheek.

He was gorgeous.

 _Live, Naruto, live!_

Finally they arrive at the surface.

He tapped Naruto's face to make him conscious once more. "Naruto.. Naruto.. Wake up.. Wake up!"

But there was no response from the blond man.

Sasuke was incredibly frustrated. He was breathing rapidly as he was desperate to save the life of Naruto the human. They were far from the shore, what should they do!?

"Flounder! There!" He pointed a ship that was in the middle of the storm. They were almost escaping the area, leaving the horrible weather behind. They sped up their swimming to the ship. The huge ship was still, it seemed that they dropped some kind of chain to hold them down. A few men were screaming something from the surface to the ship. It seemed that they were looking for Naruto.

Flounder gave him the golden object. "P-Put it somewhere, it seemed important to him."

Sasuke held the object in his palm, and it did look gorgeous. He slipped it somewhere inside Naruto's outer wear, with his hands and arms trembling hard.

 _Naruto.. Wake up._

He tapped his face once again as they were approaching the ship. "Naruto.. Wake up.." He whispered to Naruto's ear with his soft timbre tone. His tail was paddling as fast as he could.

"How should we attract their attention!?" asked Flounder. The storm was starting to move away from the area, making the sky clearer and clearer.

Sasuke was thinking fast while multitasking to try to revive Naruto up. He tapped his cheeks again and again. They finally reached their destination, they were exactly below the ship. Suddenly, Naruto coughed out water out of his lungs.

"U-Ugh!" Naruto spat out some water from his mouth and coughed it out loud, but his eyes were still closed. He seemed to be in pain.

"P-Prince Konohamaru! I heard a coughing below!" A voice of a man could be heard from the ship's surface.

"It's our cue," Flounder taps his bare shoulder. "C'mon."

Sasuke was incredibly relieved, but he didn't want to leave the man. Naruto's face.. It calmed him down. Sasuke was panting, but seeing some men putting down rope ladders just very near from where he was, he decided to leave Naruto behind. Sasuke just had to do it. He submerged his body underwater except for parts of his head, but he was holding Naruto's body with his arms from below the ocean surface. The humans were preparing to climb down the ladder. He tried his best to conceal his body from the other men.

"Goodbye.. Naruto," he whispered it to Naruto's ear before submerging all of his head underwater. His voice was full of pain. Sasuke didn't want to leave him behind. He pushed Naruto's body up so it could float, and he swam away from the ship along with Flounder.

Not long after that, a few other men brought Naruto up by the ladder, and Sasuke observed it from afar. The blond was coughing more and more water out, but it was a relief that he was alive and well. The ship stood still for a very long time, but Sasuke didn't want to leave them just yet. Some men pull up their chained object back up to their ship. A few moments later, the giant ship moved once more, moving away from the doomed area. His body was still shaking up until now, when the ship sailed away from them, heading to wherever they planned to go.

Flounder was quiet for a while but he broke the silence. "S-Sasuke, if we weren't there just now.."

The raven shuddered as he realised it. Yes. If both of them weren't there at the moment.. Naruto could..

Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment, he was holding his tears, and then he opened it again once he felt calmer.

"I wish.." he whispered, "I just wish I could be with him."

The fish just froze in silence, not knowing how to reply the prince's statement.

.

.

.

"Okay. Very good, Naruto. I think that's all the water. Now breathe slowly.."

The blond slowly sucked in some air and inhaled it out. He focused his eyes to his teacher, Iruka, that was squatting right in front of him.

"Very good. You're doing well."

He breathed in and out a few more time, and his mind was starting to regain focus.

"I-Iruka-sensei?" he spoke up.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"How did I get up here again?"

Iruka stared at him confusedly.

"You don't remember?"

Naruto closed his eyes shut to remember his last piece of memory before everything went dark. "I remember.. I was still far away from the compass, but then everything went black."

Konohamaru spoke next to him. "That's not possible, Naruto-niisan. I think you just forget what happened. You were coughing on the side of the ship. And, ah! Look at that," He slipped his hand to Naruto's pocket and picked up the golden compass. "You have it with you. That means you did it after all."

The blond stared the compass in shock. It was inside his pocket!? Konohamaru gave it back to his palms, and he held it tightly to his chest.

 _Father, I have protected it._

He did it.

"I agree with Konohamaru," said Iruka. "Your mind was probably disoriented."

"But.." Naruto tried to argue. He was still gripping his father's golden compass. "I-I don't know.. I'm remembering something else.."

"What is it?" his teacher asked him.

The blond prince closed his eyes to remember something new.

 _Strong arms wrapping him.._

 _Incoherent shouts.._

 _A whisper?_

 _"Goodbye..Naruto."_

He opened his eyes, but he was even more confused than ever.

"I-I remember a..voice," he said to Iruka.

"... What voice?"

"I don't know," he scratched his hair. "A man's voice. It was.. smooth, I guess."

Iruka, Konohamaru and the rest of the crew were looking at him as if he was crazy.

"Now, Naruto-niisan, all you need is a rest," Konohamaru chuckled to him. "I guess it was your dream or something when you were unconscious."

"Naruto," Iruka spoke up slowly. "We're going back to Konoha. You need to recover and-"

"No," he sounded stern. "Iruka-sensei, I promised Gaara I would come to his inauguration ceremony. And we're a close ally of Suna, so we have to come." He stopped for a moment to cough. "We must go to Suna."

Konohamaru gave Iruka a questioning look, and then the older brunet answered him.

"Very well then, Prince Naruto," he gave the blond a smile. "But you have to rest right now. Go get changed inside. I think we have some hot water inside the room."

Naruto clutched to the cloth that was wrapped around him, and stood up with Konohamaru's help. "I'll take over your duty," said Konohamaru with a pat to Naruto's back. The blond prince gave the younger boy the golden compass, signalling him to take over his duty.

"Don't lose it."

Konohamaru rolled his eyes. "After what happened? Of course I won't," suddenly he chuckled slowly. "Oh, Naruto-niisan. You're always the crazy one."

Naruto gave him a pat on his hair and gave him a wide grin.

"We'll take turns, Konohamaru," said Iruka. "Have a good rest, Naruto. I'll talk to you later when you feel better, and probably I'm going to scold you non-stop."

"Okay, sensei," he grinned to the older brunet. "Everyone! Thank you for your help! And- Atchoo!" He sneezed hard. "Sorry. Yeah, please do your best to listen to Captain Konohamaru!"

"Aye!" Shouts were heard from all over the deck of the ship.

They pulled their anchor up, and sailed north where the Suna kingdom stands. Naruto, on the other hand, finished washing himself with hot water and changed into a pair of warm pyjamas. He rested his body on the comfortable hammock, and let his mind wander around.

 _"Naruto.. Naruto.. Wake up.. Wake up!"_

He remembered the feeling of his cheeks being caressed by a soft, cold hand.

 _"Goodbye.. Naruto"_

A whisper.. so soft.. so full of love.. and it sounded so painful to his ears..

The memory of the voice was implanted into Naruto's brain. A smooth timbre, whenever he remember it, it made him shiver. It was definitely a man's voice.

He rolled over to the side and closed his eyes, his body was giving in. Prince Naruto drifted into a deep sleep, but he continued to dream about the mysterious, yet beautiful voice.

 _Who are you..?_

* * *

 **First encounter of the two! What do you think about it!? It was kinda similar to the Little Mermaid (Disney), but I tried to make it different.**

 **This update is kinda fast, right? Yeah, I tried my best to update the story while I'm not that busy.**

 **Try imagining Sasuke's Japanese voice while reading it, cause that's what I use for my imagination. His Japanese VA's voice was really, really good.**

 **I'll try to update the story soon! Thank you for reading! *bows***

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 **Love, myfavoriteramen.**


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